


Edge of the Storm

by Song_Book



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Author projecting into Player Character, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Smut, F/M, Flashbacks, Headcanon of shane actually swearing like he wants to, Heart Events (Stardew Valley), Implied Relationships, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, In-game Dialogue Included(Stardew Valley), Multi, My First Work in This Fandom, My own Stardew Headcanons, Non-Graphic Smut, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, POV Female Character, Platonic Relationships, Romance, Smut will be marked per chapter if included, Strangers to Lovers, Swearing, Tags May Change, The main fic pairing will probably be some version of shanexplayercharacter, The whole cast will make an appearance at some point, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:48:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29170593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Song_Book/pseuds/Song_Book
Summary: After deciding to take a small vacation from her life of constant work and draining emotional turmoil, Véro, a young 20-something is told one winter day not to bother coming back home. On her own luck she had kept her Grandfather's old farm deed on her, giving her a static place to spend her remaining coin to after her accounts get ransacked. Whether or not this city girl can etch out a life on a farm is up to Yoba, and her dedication to not letting yet another opportunity get ripped from her hands.The town seems cordial enough, but there are many currents running through this seemingly small uninteresting town. Long spent crushes, not so secret affairs, a town shop rivalry, magical spirits, witches and wizards, and blue chickens? She has a whole lot to learn about living in this town, but what will Stardew do when her past comes back time and time again with a fresh desire to ruin all she holds dear.
Relationships: Shane (Stardew Valley)/Original Female Character(s), Shane/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Bumbling Beginnings.

**Author's Note:**

> Just an introductory chapter, setting the scene, establishing how real to the game this story will be and how many **artistic** liberties I will be taking with it. Nothing explicitly bad happens here, though Véro's past is hinted at originally. 
> 
> Yes this is just authorial projection, shush.
> 
> Véro stumbles her way off the bus to Stardew for the very first time and manages not to get lost making her way to her rinkadink cabin in the woods.

The letter crumpled in her hand, signed intimately by her grandfather. The bus ride was long; her backpack jostled alongside her with every tumble and pothole they ran over. The bus stank horribly of cigarettes, and new billows of smoke drifted off from the other passengers. The side of the letter had been torn, hastily as she had been at work when she first opened it, and the pretty parchment of the house deed stuck out tauntingly. She had taken it with her on a whim. When she decided to finally take a break from her routine. Work, clean, cry, sleep, and repeat; she wanted something different.

 _ **Should have known this quick road trip would have turned permanent.**_ She began to journey down that rabbit hole but stopped herself. That was then and this is now, she had to figure out how to live again. The bus crawled to a stop, the lady driving it pushed the door open quickly and huffed. A few less than friendly faces stared at her as she stumbled to grab her bag and get down the stairs. The folding doors shut behind her with a shoulder tensing bang.

Gulping, she looked around where she had been let off. The clearing had a path down to a cross-section. Its side paths were overgrown with weeds and tall spring-laden trees. No signs pointed which way was which and all she wanted was to find the Mayor. He had been cordial but brief on her original call to the small town's singular office line. After a few tries, she had finally caught him between errands. Continually asserting he had other better things to be doing this time of the year but would meet her when she got there. She patted around for her phone, and it buzzed quietly in her pocket.

After a stretch of silence and buzzing from the other side of the line the Mayor spoke up, " Hey? Veronique right?"

" I Prefer Vér-"

"Yeah okay, so I don't think I'll be able to make it in time."

"-o" her mood soured at the interruption but she hadn't the time to vocalize that. "

"However, dear city girl! Once you get off the bus here, the farmhouse should be right down that path so, I'll meet you there in the morning. Okay? Got to go!"

He was gone again, her ear buzzing with the cutoff static. Such a busy man for such a small town, she thought, staring down as the phone blinked in her hand. The deed letter crunched up in the other. So this is Stardew Valley, Véro pondered, watching the sunset far below the billowing tree line. It was quaint, quiet, far from her life in the city working a dead-end job. She didn't know much about farming or how to raise animals but, she was a quick learner. At least she was when it came to academics; the doubt crept in her mind about how she would ever make a living out here. Not having to pay rent was a good thing; the house had been built by her grandfather back in his day, and no one had lived there since he passed, so there was no mortgage or fees really. She checked her wallet 500g rattled around inside. That amount wouldn't have lasted her a week in the city. But it was all she had to work off of now. So she started walking.

The property she gained on was worn down, covered in propagating grasses, weeds, and trees of all sorts. She had no idea how long it would take her to find some sort of balance between the wilderness and a supporting farm, or how to even begin to go about that. The house was pushed against the forest line on almost all sides. **_Bigger than my apartment in the city was for sure!_ **She joked, even though this dinky shack definitely was not. She checked the door, finding it locked securely, but if the mayor wasn't coming, then how was she supposed to get in. She set her bag and the deed down on the small porch looking around. That's when she spotted the mailbox, short and unassumingly hidden, with its little red flag up.

A small menagerie of letters was packed in there along with an old key on a metal chain. She opened the letter it was above, recognizing the Mayor's handwriting on the outside from her deed. Véro skimmed the letter as she moved back to the front door. Inside it said she'd find a little gift to get her started on this whole farming thing. That tomorrow she should go try to meet everyone she could in town, because who knows what spare tips and tricks she could accumulate.

She was a bit more shocked when she finally got inside the house. It was much, much smaller than she originally thought. To her dismay, it possessed little more than the dusty appliances needed to make it a place for eating and resting. On a positive note, the bed looked freshly made with a newly laundered blanket. On the solitary table was a large present wrapped up in some red striped paper. The gift crinkled under her palms as she stroked its side. Her bag haphazardly thrown next to the bed. All her papers scattered next to the big box on the table.

Véro had to pause in contemplation, _**I could finally start my own life, free from the expectations of others, free from my past.**_

From inside the present, she pulled out many assorted tools: an axe, a shovel, a pickaxe, a scythe, a hoe, and a brand new aluminum watering can. A package of parsnip seeds rested carefully alongside a farmer's almanac at the bottom. A note was taped to the front of the book, with the words "read me" printed carefully across them, although she couldn't place the handwriting. Véro spent her last few hours of decent sunlight organizing her small wardrobe. Her backpack and boots were so old already, torn and patched again and again, at some point they were going to just fall apart. She hoped she could perhaps purchase new ones in town somewhere, she really never wanted to return to the city.

After spending the evening sitting out on the old porch making a sketch of how shed like to clear the land to make way for a farm, Véro made her way inside as the sun set upon the little valley by the sea. Tomorrow she'd go meet everyone and set up her first crop as soon as possible. Maybe she'd even get along with some of the people here. Laying down between the sheets a warmth she hadn't felt in a long time seeped into her core. It washed over her and drifted her away into the darkness of the night. Sleeping soundly long before she could even begin to feel the dread and sorrow that usually affected her at this hour. For once not fearing the morning's rise. Perhaps she could make a life here. 


	2. New Faces, Small Kindnesses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vero meets the Mayor and gets a brief run down of how farm life will work out. Then after a long morning of working to get set up goes into town in the early afternoon and stumbles on Caroline and Jodi with friendly faces

A rooster crowed in the distance as sunlight filtered in the small window and danced across the old bed. Véro stretched as she rose up, curling her toes and stretching her still half-asleep body. The bed creaked and groaned below her as she huffed her way, rolling leg before leg, out from under the warm covers.  If there was something that working under oppressive conditions had given her, it was her ability to force herself awake  . Out of the comfort of bed. A smile spread across her face as her feet touched the floor. _No more 9-5 in a chair at the office dealing with petty nonsense._ The morning air chilled everything in the tiny cabin including the floorboards. She was glad she had left her socks on.

Véro spent the first few minutes of this first day adjusting.  Remembering where she had folded up her clothes, setting the old kettle up on the furnace, lacing up her boots, and refilling her backpack with all the things she was thinking she would need  .  The tools she had  been left  with were so much lighter than her clothing and remnant personal belongings  . Stuff that had stuffed her pack those last few weeks. She took the first hour of the day, after getting assembled, reading that guide book that had  been left  . She marked down a schedule for watering the crops and how long they should take to grow. Doodling  idly  on her page while she red. Little chickens and mushrooms dotted the margins. Ferns and climbing plants wound up the side. She turned on the small television when the reading became dull. She flicked through channels.  Learning the weather forecast and how to make a new recipe from the only cooking show that gave ingredient proportions on screen . Though how she’d ever find the ingredients or space in the cramped kitchen for it was another thing.

Still in the early morning she heard knocking at the door. Standing, hands in pockets, and tapping his toe into the dusty, worn out path to her home was an older man. He wore a bright yellow tie and had retreating grey hair. He reminded her of the guys who ran milkshake bars in the city.  Maybe  it was the handle-bar mustache and suspenders that reminded her of that and less his face.

“ Um. You must be the Mayor?” she asked.

“ Please, Call me Lewis. Everybody else here does, It’d feel weird to exclude you from that.” He paused for only a breath. “So, how was your first night in the old cottage? Your grandpa used to complain about the rickety old bed. But  I think , deep down, he actually loved that house.” he paused again and she took the chance to get her responses in while she still could.

“ Actually,  really  nice. Compared to you know, sleeping upright in a bus.”

“ Well alright then. You seem to have made yourself at home here already." He peered around her at the empty mug and the papers strewn about the table. " If I were you I’d get started on planting your first crop before the sun gets too high and the air too warm..  oh and visiting the general store in town, I’m sure Pierre is selling all types of seasonal seeds for reasonable prices.”

“ I Assume Id also sell him any and all crops I could as well right?”

“ Actually, I have Robin fixing up your overnight delivery box as we speak.”

“So that’s a No?”

“ Of course you don't have to sell all your stuff in town, wow you are new to this farming thing.” He looked over to a woman waving as she walked out of the farm property. "  Just  package it up nice and put it in the box over there and one of my assistants or I will come pick it up that evening." His  obnoxiously  cheery smile dropped for a few moments.

" Don't hesitate to give me a call if anything goes sideways. I would really hate it if the farm had to stand empty for more years... brings down the town's mood."  He sighed, adjusting his tie and basking in Véro's curt nod and small assurances that everything would be quite fine . Resuming his happier demeanor he readied himself to set off again in his pickup.

“ Okay, well, you are all set and ready to get started. Welcome again to Stardew Valley! I’ll leave you to it!”

* * *

Véro exhaled.  After many hours of tearing up weeds, chopping down smaller trees, and planting her first crop, she already felt her stamina drained  . The electric clock on her phone blinked the time of day. It’s simulated second hand ticked around the circle. It was only a bit past noon, a good time she would think to hit up the general store and try and meet people. Especially if the temperature was gonna keep going up. The mud smeared on her jeans and across her arms would definitely make an impression.  Hopefully  it was one that gave off more confidence in her actions than she actually had.

The walk into town center from the top side of her land was quiet. Along it she found many of the little harvestables of spring.  Exceedingly  the ones that lurked underneath the sporadic tree line. She was sure she could sell them, if not in town than in that overnight box the Mayor, no… Lewis, was talking about.

Out in what Véro could only describe as the town's square were two older ladies. They both reminded her of her mother's old friends. She approached them  gingerly , doing a bit of a small wave to gage their interest. The green-haired woman waved her toward their little impromptu meeting.

“Hello! You must be Véro, the new farmer. I'm Caroline. My husband runs the general store here. And have you met my daughter, Abigail? She's the pale one with the purple hair."

" Oh, nice to meet you, Pierre right? Yeah  I think  I'll stop there in a bit. And No I haven't met her, I haven’t  really  met anyone here besides Mayor Lewis, and I guess you two now"

The redhead spoke up then as Caroline prodded her in the side, coming down from her own imagination.

" Oh! You aren't exactly how I imagined... but that's okay! I'm Jodi."

"It's a quiet little town, so it's very exciting when someone new moves in! Having a farmer around could  really  change things.” Caroline started up her eyes sparking.

" You  really  think so?"

" Oh most definitely, I'd love to buy actual fresh vegetables.. versus what's sold in JojoMart nowadays." Jodi piped up.

“ Doesn’t Pierre’s sell Vegetables?”

“ We do but our stock’s limited and we sell out quick,  'specially  to Gus.” Caroline replied, cutting Jodi's answer off.

“ Oh Yeah I see how that would make a larger-scale farmer a bit more exciting." Véro sighed at the end, mentally trying to remember their names. _New people were never my specialty._ Deciding to write down all the information she can on these people in her journal. "  I think  I need to go make sure I can still get to the General Store so I guess I'll be seeing you around?"

" Oh most definitely! You get going with all those farmer duties okay?" Jodi smiled, and nodded to Caroline before heading her own way home down the square.

“ I could show you around the shop, If you wouldn’t mind.” Caroline nodded back at Jodi, starting the walk up to the shop’s front. “ Who knows. I could  probably  get a good discount on some starter seeds for you too.”

Véro decided then with a smile, she did like this place , " That'd be nice."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think a 1200 word update works for the second chapter and some more setup. :) Don't worry I actually have a plan for where this series is going and I am enjoying writing it. I already have the next chapter planned out so the wait for another 1200 words wont be long. Please leave a comment on who your favorite non-datable character is, mine's Jodi. She's just trying her best, and her husband's at War!
> 
> Is this a self-insert x Shane fic but Shane is still nowhere to be found? Yes Yes it is. And I don't know when I'll have him show up. Trip to JoJaMart with Jodi? Encountered while playing with Jaz? Maybe firs time they meet is while the farmer is considering buying some chickens from Marine. Who knows! not me!


End file.
